Posted on 03/08/2002 1:24:33 PM PST by sarcasm
Friday, March 08, 2002 - WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo takes credit for thwarting the Bush administration's last effort to offer partial amnesty to thousands of illegal residents, but Thursday the outspoken immigration foe said he may have been outmaneuvered by the White House.
President Bush has struck a deal with the House leadership to place legislation that offers an extension of amnesty on its consent calendar before Bush heads to Mexico for a state visit next week, the Colorado Republican said. That action should ensure quick House passage of legislation that Bush has repeatedly sought from Congress. It would allow an undocumented person to receive legal standing, such as a valid green card, by filing a declaration with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It presumably also would require the person to have been in the United States by a certain date and have filed a declaration with the INS from an appropriate sponsor, such as a relative or employer, and pay a $1,000 penalty. "The terms are still up in the air," said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration, a group that has been allied with Tancredo. "We've heard to the effect that the president wants something to bring down to Mexico." The initial Bush proposal, designed exclusively for Mexicans, once was high on the president's legislative wish list, but it was delayed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. However, as the president noted Wednesday in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, he now is pushing for the extension of the amnesty program known by the section of immigration law that covers it, Section 245I. The president hailed it as a way to reunite family, separated by the border. "If you believe in family values, if you understand the worth of family and the importance of family, let's get 245I out of the United States Congress and give me a chance to sign it," Bush told the chamber members. Tancredo, the head of a congressional caucus on immigration issues and proponent of halting virtually all immigration, said he had blocked a previous attempt by Bush to push an extension of the amnesty program through the House. But this time, he said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., had agreed to place the issue on the suspension, or consent, calendar, making it difficult to defeat the proposal. The Senate might be more favorable to the bill than the House, expanding the numbers of individuals who can apply, Tancredo said.
Most (like me) worked hard to elect Bush.
I know where you are coming from. For the first time in my life I actually hit the streets and protested. That was in November of 2000 on Main street in downtown Dallas. We were on one side of Main street and the Democrats were on the other side.
I supported Katherine Harris (Florida Secretary of State) and I even received a thank you letter from her.
And look at the thanks that Bush is giving us. He is rubbing it in our faces.
Unless Bush reverses his policy on immigration (which he won't) I would not give him so much as a drink of water - much less a vote.
I heard that something like 500,000 FAX's were sent out. That is great.
* Consistent with other polls, the Zogby poll finds that the majority of Americans (55 percent) think that an amnesty is a bad or very bad idea compared to 34 percent who think it is a good or very good idea.
The key words being "Consistent with other polls". Bush and his administration read the polls and know that immigration and amnesty is not a popular subject with the American people at this time. Yet he is going to force this upon us rather we want it or not.
* Among Democrats, 55 percent said they thought an amnesty would be a bad idea and 36 percent thought it was a good idea.
This is not just a right wing (VRWC) issue. Hillary can't point fingers on this issue and say that it is a vast right wing conspiracy.
* An amnesty does not appear to be a way of winning Hispanic votes for either party, with 51 percent of respondents identifying it is a bad idea and 49 percent thinking it’s a good idea. When asked how it might affect their vote, twice as many Hispanics in the survey (33 percent) said they would be less likely to vote for Bush in 2004 if he supported an amnesty compared to 15 percent who said they would be more likely to vote for him.
Not only is this issue unpopular with some Hispanics, but it is dividing the Republican party and Bush is losing his grassroots support as you have pointed out.
* Those who oppose an amnesty seem to be much stronger in their opposition than are supporters in their support of an amnesty.
* Not only does the president risk alienating his own conservative base, but he also risks alienating self-identified moderates, who are critical to his winning reelection in 2004.
It doesn't get any clearer than this. Bush is definately going against the will of the American people that elected him. IMHO he is totally disregarding the laws and the Constitution of the United States by granting amnesty to people who have flagrantly broken the laws of the United States.
I cannot and will not support him any longer.
There's no doubt in my mind that's going to happen. Something is going to give on this, and it may not be pretty. It could all be prevented though if Congress would put some common sense back into immigration policy, what's left of it. But they don't seem to want to do that.
Well, they haven't always been in Virginia and other states so far from the border. They haven't always been all over the US in numbers sufficient to represent voting blocs. The fact that they are now is due to policies pursued by politicians of both parties.
I've posted the article under its own thread. You may want to bump it when you log on again to freep...
Some of the SS cards are forged. But recently, most states now accept the Matriculas Consulares card which is issued by the Mexican consulate. These "ID" cards are about as usless and legal as the paper they are printed on.
In states that accept the Matriculas Consulares card, illegals can open checking accounts without a SS number. Wells Fargo Bank and several other national banks now accept them. Also illegals can obtain a drivers license with them. This makes them eligible to vote under Motor Voter.
In Texas I have to give my SS number to get a drivers license, but if I had a Matriculas Consulares card I would not need a SS number.
There is one set of rules for them and another set of rules for us. The bar is being lowered for illegals and raised for us.
Your government at work!! I hope that answered your question. I will look for some links to send you.
Money in the bank:Accountants helping wary immigrants park cash safely, send it home.
I don't hold it against the people who didn't find out anything about him before voting for him in the primary, but I do recognize a serious difference between those who supported him all along and are now waking up and those who either voted for him at the last minute as the lesser of two evils or those who spoke out against him from the first day and didn't vote for him.
That difference is discernment. Discernment is something that comes only with great effort. It takes time and effort to pursue questions about candidates and it's something that usually guarantees that you're going to be attacked a lot for your questioning. Discernment is a duty of citizenship though. Those who shirked that duty had better correct their attitudes and be determined not to shirk again.
Among the people I know personally who stumped mightily for W and are now disgusted are several who did the same thing for W's dad, even stumping for him in his 2nd campaign. People like that haven't learned any lesson and aren't going to.
As for betrayal, the hallmark of the GOP is the consistent betrayal of whatever constituency they have gained by subterfuge. That is their most consistent trait.
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